Smoke consumer



1961 J. M. BAXTER 2,998,097

SMOKE CONSUMER Filed Nov. 18, 1957 JAMES. M. BAXTER.

PATENT AGENT 2,998,097 SMOKE CONSUMER James M. Baxter, '33 Coleman Ave,Toronto,

Ontario, Canada I Filed Nov. 18, 1957, Ser. No. 697,260 3 Claims. (Cl.183-5) My invention relates to smoke consumers.

The problem of smoke abatement is becoming acute especially in thelarger industrial cities where the smoke emanating from larger plants isnot only a nuisance but in many cases a definite menace to health.

The injurious eifect of this smoke is caused by the solid particles ofash, fly ash, soot, and unburned fuel in the smoke, and heretofore manymethods have been suggested to remove these deleterious substances. Noneof these, however, has proved truly eflicient and economical inpractice.

It is an object of my invention, therefore, to provide a smoke consumerwhich will eifectively remove ash, fly ash, soot and other deleteriousparticles from smoke.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a smoke consumerthat will be readily adaptable to any installation obviating thenecessity of substantial alterations to existing equipment.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide such a smokeconsumer of simple construction permitting economical initial andmaintenance expenses.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide such a smokeconsumer capable of handling large volumes of smoke in a speedy andefficient manner.

These and other objects of my invention are accomplished by the novelconstruction of my invention which will be explained hereinafter.

I have found that the deleterious solid substances in smoke may beremoved by providing a chamber between a smoke source and chimneywherein through a system of properly arranged bafiles and walls, the airis made turbulent and is subjected to the action of one or more spraysof air, water or steam causing the deleterious substances to settle outwhereupon they may be Withdrawn.

A better understanding of the precise nature of my invention may be hadthrough reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective and part sectional view of a typical furnaceand boiler.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of a smoke consumer constructedaccording to my invention.

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along line 3-1-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a detailed section view of the steam jets of FIGURE 1 andFIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the steam jet and connections ofFIGURE 4.

In the drawings FIGURE 1 shows a typical commercial boiler and furnacecomprising a boiler 1 and a furnace indicated generally at 2 comprisinga grate 3 wherein combustion takes place and a fire wall 4. Thecombustion chamber communicates at its upper end through pipe 5 andthrough my smoke consumer indicated generally at 6 to the vertical stackor chimney 7. Thus the gases of combustion pass from the combustionchamber through my smoke consumer and out the stack.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 2 and 3 wherein my smokeconsumer is shown in detail:

The consumer comprises longitudinally extending outer casing 8 which maybe of circular or square cross-section depending upon the ductingexisting in the installation. A screen or mesh 14 is placed across theinlet of the consumer to prevent larger particles of soot, unburned fueland ash from entering.

The interior of the consumer is divided. roughly into he atent threechambers 9, 10 and 11, by two walls 12 and 13 which are located inspaced relationship to each other and to the inlet and outlet of theconsumer.

These walls 12 and 13 have a plurality of identical passages 15therethrough to permit passage of the smoke and gases. These passagesare preferably inclined so that the gases follow a slightly downwardpath in passing through the wall.

In chamber 9, a fan 16 is located immediately inside the inlet to theconsumer providing a forced draft of the gas and smoke.

A baffle 17 is located at the bottom of the consumer and between Wall 12and fan 16. In chamber 10, a spray 18 of air, water or steam is providedat the upper part of the consumer 13 and the walls 12 and 13 arepreferably so spaced that this chamber 10 is somewhat smaller thanchamber 9.

In chamber 11, a further spray 19 of air, water or steam is locatedadjacent to Wall 13 at the outlet end. A series of baffies 20 are alsoprovided in this chamber. These bafiles extend from both the top andbottom of the consumer.

A plurality of drains 21 are located at appropriate points in theconsumer and are connected to a drain line 22 where the waste particlesmay be carried away. These drains 21 are preferably placed as shownbetween the first bafile 17 and wall 13, and under sprays 18 and 19, asin practice it has been found that greatest accumulation of wasteparticles of soot, ash and fuel occurs at these points.

The consumer casing 8 while of similar cross-section to the ductingalready in the plant, is in its inlet and somewhat higher than the pipe5 leaving a port 23 through which furnace room air is drawn into theconsumer. Furnace room air is also drawn in through port 24- at theoutlet end of the consumer which communicates with the vertical chimney7 through a section of ducting 30 which is higher than the consumerducting at the outlet end thereof.

Air drawn from the boiler room into the consumer in these two locationsgreatly increases the draft in the consumer and insures a speedy passageof the smoke therethrough, reducing the danger of backups so prevalentin prior consumers and permitting larger volumes of .smoke to betreated.

In operation, gases and smoke passing through screen 14 are drawn bynatural draft and by fan 16 into the consumer where they impinge uponwall 12. This causes a turbulence which is encouraged by baflle 17 andbefore the gases pass through passages 15 in wall 12, a portion of theheavier particles of ash and soot will have settled to the base of theconsumer where they may be drained out through drain 21. Upon emergingfrom passages 15 which are downwardly inclined in order to prevent theirbecoming clogged with soot and ash particles the smoke is subjected tothe action of spray 18. A turbulence in the smoke will resultimmediately under spray 18 as a result of the impingement of the smokeagainst wall 13 and the spray will be thus increased in effectiveness.

Solid particles settling out through this turbulence and spray actionare again withdrawn through a drain 21. Upon passing through passage 15of wall 13, the smoke and gases emerge to be subjected to the action ofthe second spray 19. Bafiles 20 retard the free flow of the gases atthis jet causing at urbulence under the spray which makes it effectivein the same manner as spray 18.

In practice, I have found that best results are obtained by having onespray of air and one of steam, both of these being readily available inthe average commercial furnace room Where smoke control is a majorconsideration. I have further found that if the stack is high andprovides a good natural draft, the first spray should be of steam andthe second of air, while when the natural draft is low, the best resultsare obtained when this order is reversed. The precise reasons for thisare not known to me but I believe that if air is used first in low draftinstallations a pressure is created in chamber which increases thenatural draft whereas when the natural draft is high a steam jet inchamber 10 serves to decrease the natural draft and permits morethorough action by both sprays. It is to be understood, of course, thatwater sprays may be also used and that my invention contemplates notonly the arrangements outlined above but also the use of steam, air orWater sprays in any desired combination or singly. Variousconsiderations such as availability of the steam, water or air and sizeand type of installation wherein the smoke consumer is used govern thechoice of these sprays and it is to be understood that when here andelsewhere I refer to a spray, or a first or second spray that the termis to include a spray of air, water or steam or any combination ofthese.

As a further feature of my invention, I have discovered that my smokeconsumer operates more efficiently and a greater economy of fuel isachieved if the smoke rising from the fire in the grate can be heldmomentarily over the hottest part of the fire where many particles ofunburned fuel and soot will be consumed.

To this end, I provide a plurality of jets indicated generally at 25 inFIGURE 1 and shown in greater detail in FIGURE 4 or 5. These comprise acentral jet 26 The jets are placed preferably in pairs as shown inFIGURE 1, one pair being located on either side of the furnace and sopositioned as to impinge upon the smoke just above the fire wall. Twomore pairs of jets are placed at the front of the furnace, one pairtoward either side thereof.

I have found that when these jets are placed as shown, the mixture ofsteam and air which they direct into the furnace acts to hold the smokemomentarily over the hot part of the flame and this momentary retentionconsumes many larger particles of soot and unburned fuel permitting moreeflicient operation of the smoke consumer. These jets may be in the samesupply line as the jets 19 and 18 if steam is used in either or both ofjets 18 and 19 and I have found that steam pressure of 20 to 25 psi.gauge gives satisfactory results for both jets 18 and 19 and jets 25.These jets are connected as by line 32 to any suitable source of steamsupply and a valve 31 between the source and jets 25 is used to controlthe quantity of steam discharged.

While I have described above one particular embodiment of my invention,I Wish it to be understood that I do not intend to be restricted by theconstructional details shown therein. Alterations and additions may bemade to the embodiment outlined above and such embodiments as fallwithin the scope and purview of the appended claims are to be deemedwithin the scope of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A smoke consumer comprising in combination a longitudinally extendingduct having an inlet and an outlet therein, two walls locatedtransversely therein in spaced relationship to each other and to theinlet and the outlet of said duct, said walls having a plurality ofstraight, downwardly inclined passages therethrough, a baflle plateextending transversely across said duct between the inlet and the firstof the transverse walls, and extendin g from a wall of said duct to apoint short of the centre of said duct, a spraying device locatedbetween said two transverse walls, a second spraying device locatedadjacent to the second of the two transverse walls at the side thereoftowards the outlet of said duct, and a plurality of battle platesextending transversely across said duct between the second sprayingdevice and the outlet of said duct, certain of said baffle platesextending from the top wall of said duct to a point above the centre ofsaid duct, and others of said baffle plates extending from the bottomwall of said duct to a point below the centre thereof.

2. A smoke consumer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of drainsare located in the bottom of said duct.

3. A smoke consumer according to claim 1 wherein said duct has aseparate port adapted to permit the entry of air into the duct at apoint just above said inlet and a further similar port at a point justabove said outlet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS516,664 Storer Mar. 20, 1894 704,199 Lee July 8, 1902 880,747 Morby Mar.3, 1908 1,117,309 Bentz Nov. 17, 1914 1,139,053 Murray et al. May 11,1915 1,550,357 Hess Aug. 18, 1925 1,620,826 Mitchell Mar. 15, 19271,744,084 Scognio Jan. 21, 1930 1,867,933 Wilton July 19, 1932 1,939,949Bertram Dec. 19, 1933 2,090,287 Cornelius Aug. 17, 1937 2,090,466Bichowsky Aug. 17, 1937 2,152,251 Gay Mar. 28, 1939 2,696,274 Old Dec.7, 1954 2,738,178 Kinney Mar. 13, 1956

